Chris Gillespie Email & Phone Number

Ridgefield, Ct, Us

Shelton, Connecticut, United States

In my current role at LDI Connect, I lead the establishment of a new practice focused on custom application development for faith-based organizations. This practice leverages low-code development platforms to create tailored workflow automation solutions, streamlining processes and enhancing operational efficiency. My previous role as the Sr. Director of Application Development and Workforce Automation at the Diocese of Bridgeport transitioned into this position as part of an outsourcing strategy, allowing me to extend my expertise in supporting the unique needs of religious institutions through innovative, technology-driven solutions. I am dedicated to helping these organizations thrive by simplifying complex workflows and making technology accessible.

Bridgeport, Ct

As the Sr. Director of Application Development and Workforce Automation at the Diocese of Bridgeport, I led the development of innovative applications to streamline work processes and enhance operational efficiency. My efforts focused on automating manual workflows and implementing centralized data management systems, enabling the diocese to manage resources more effectively. These solutions improved productivity, reduced administrative burdens, and provided better data-driven decision-making capabilities across various departments. I also collaborated closely with stakeholders to ensure seamless integration of technology with the diocese's mission and goals. I managed a team of developers that worked for outside application development firms.

Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States

As Senior Director of Technology Services for the Diocese of Bridgeport, I functioned as the CIO, consolidating all IT resources under a single department. I led a team responsible for delivering comprehensive technology services to the Chancery, Parishes, Schools, and other ministries and missions across the diocese. Our services encompassed voice and data networks, desktop and laptop support, cloud solutions, Office 365, Google Education, security cameras, paging systems, and software hosting. My leadership ensured cohesive IT operations, improving efficiency, service delivery, and support across all diocesan entities.

Kingston, New York

Sustainable Waste Power Systems (SWPS) is the developer of a truly revolutionary waste to energy process. It is the only wet gasification system in the world!. Garbage In – Power Out (GIPO) is a patented wet gasification technology that generates power from Municipal Solid Waste, Municipal Waste Water, Sewage Sludge, Agricultural Waste, Medical Waste, and any other wet carbon-based waste. We sell an on-site small scale waste to energy system.• Raised over $5 million with over 80 investors to develop new waste to energy technology• Worked with NY Empire State Development to get the company approved as a StartUp New York company which eliminates all New York state taxes for 10 years• Awarded process patent (8,690,977) in April 2014 for the core process patent. Five additional US and PCT Patents filed.• Successfully constructed and tested pilot system for system testing and development and proved out the base process in October 2012. The results of these test supported additional patent filings.• Design and constructed commercial scale system and successfully proved the efficacy of the system August 2015

Tarrytown, New York

$500 Million consumer package goods company created through merger and acquisition of other companies and brands.Prestige Brands had a collection of applications not well designed and developed that did not support business processes. The overall IT infrastructure was not stable and experienced constant outages. My challenge was to stabilize and integrate the systems while at the same time supporting a corporate austerity program and reduction in force.• Reduced the IT budget by over 18% and stabilized overall infrastructure eliminating outages for core business systems and increasing availability and system responsiveness.• Consolidated the management of all brand “brochure ware” websites onto a single platform incorporating SEO, Google Analytics and Social Media techniques corporate wide to create a standard KPI for performance management.• Built data warehouse consolidating and normalizing all financial, sales and POS data for corporate reporting.• Created cross functional team to create an RFP to select and implement a Sales Forecasting and Demand Planning system. We reviewed 12 companies picking John Galt Solutions. We developed Sales and Operations Processes and training, implemented the system decreasing forecast error by 13%.• Designed, developed and implemented Label Change Notice process and Artwork Tracking system that ensured compliance to FDA regulations and automated a manual process reducing errors and the time to market for new and improved products.

Danbury, Ct

Responsible for all operations and information technology for National Retail Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of HAVAS . Client Services, Warehousing, Fulfillment, Field Management, Client Reporting and IT.In recognition of my leadership and business understanding, I was promoted to COIO to improve overall operations of the company. Once the quality leader of the industry, NRS was falling behind in execution and client expectations which resulted in several high level sales executives to leave the company.• Deployed the new corporate dashboard which became the catalyst for improved operations and quality delivery.• Upgraded skill sets and positions in Client Services to Project Management Institute (PMI) based job descriptions. Improved overall quality of work output.• Designed, developed and implemented NRS-STAR a companywide program management system supporting sales, customer services, logistics, field operations and customer reporting which improved operational quality, speed to market and customer satisfaction.• Implemented NRS University, a web based training and certification system used by over 1,600 field agents to ensure quality service and technical certifications.• Reengineer all inter-company processes to remove redundancy and speed delivery of in store projects.• Migrate to Microsoft Visual Studio.Net platform to support desktop, laptop, tablet PC, pocket PC, and interactive voice response data entry methods• Lowered IT expenditures by 20% from $ 1.6 MM to $ 1.25 MM

I was retained by UBS Warburg to assess their global asset management policies, processes and procedures for workstations. UBSW was in the process of upgrading the workstations around the world to XP and did not have a coherent process to manage desktop and laptop workstations. The inventory of these assets was at best 70% accurate. The process to develop upgrade schedules was a manual process utilizing spreadsheets and stale inventories. The lack of accurate inventory data and asset management processes resulted in spending $3 MM for deployments and upgrades not needed or incorrectly deployed.

Developed and implemented a Desktop Asset Management System that allowed the bank to quickly and efficiently track ownership and configuration of every desktop worldwide. The system allowed the desktop engineering group to rapidly review and migrate users to updated platforms and reuse equipment.

I was hired by the CIO for Dime to stabilize and re-architect the infrastructure in preparation of Dime’s E-commerce initiative. I reorganized the engineering, implementation, and operations of the technology infrastructure including in-house supported and outsourced supported systems.Led a group of 34 technical employees of diverse levels and skills; managed over 20 contracts for maintenance, lease and services; developed and implemented infrastructure strategy for Dime Savings Bank, North American Mortgage Company, Dime Insurance Group and Dime Securities; established technology standards for mainframes, servers, desktop and network equipment; managed a $14.5 million technology budget and a $20.6 million telecom budget overall.• Developed e-Commerce architecture around Broadway and Seymour Touchpoint application utilizing IBM mainframe, application Sun server, Microsoft IIS web server, Oracle database server, Tuxedo messaging server, CRM data warehousing, Genesys call center integration, Nortel in-bound and out-bound call center management and InterVoice interactive voice response.• Enhanced run time performance and stability across the entire architecture by performing system wide stress testing, performance monitoring, integration testing and configuration assessment.• Reduced costs by $4 million annually; consolidated service providers across business units and re-negotiated old contracts.• Reorganized technical teams along functional lines to speed implementation of projects, reduce network down time, and create a technical help desk.• Developed and implemented Dime’s ASP and Network Security standards and methodologies.• Created centralized Operations Center and Help Desk developing processes and procedures to enhance support of business units.• Designed and implemented Video Teleconferencing system and room.

Various positions providing outsource information technology and services.*Account Manager, DIME SAVINGS BANK OF NY, Uniondale, NY 1997 - 1998*Account Operations Manager, REPUBLIC NATIONAL BANK OF NY, New York, NY 1993 – 1997*Voice Communications Manager, FIRST CITY TEXAS Account, Houston, TX 1991 – 1993*Engineering Manager, COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES DIVISION, Dallas, TX 1989 – 1991*Communications Engineer/Team Lead, GM ACCOUNT, Southfield, MI 1985 – 1989

Supported private voice communications at General Motors Information System and Communications Activity (GMISCA) for all of GM's divisions.